A Patchwork & Laminate Picnic Quilt Tutorial : :

With Summer fast approaching, today I thought I'd share my tutorial for a Hand-tied Patchwork & Laminate Picnic Quilt using a simple patchwork for the quilt top and a Yellow Chevron Laminate Fabric for the back. This tutorial was originally created for the RBD blog as part of the Design Team, using their adorable Seaside Collection, which is a little hard to come by now. You can substitute with any collection of quality cotton fabrics. If you have any questions please leave a comment or feel free to email me at maureencracknell@hotmail.com. Now let's get started!!  

What you'll need : :

• 24 - fabric squares measuring 11.5"
• 2 - fabric cuts measuring 4.5" x 44"
• 2 - yards of Laminate Fabric
• 1 - skein of matching floss or twine (source) for hand-tying
• white thread
• Sewing pins (use the smallest gauge pins you can find, to avoid holes in the laminate)
• Sharp scissors and/or a rotary cutter/mat set   

Sewing the Seaside Quilt Top : :

1. pin two 11.5" squares together with right sides facing, securing with a couple of pins on one side 2. repeat with all 24 squares until you have a stack of 12

3. sew squares together on one side, keeping a 1/4" seam allowance, removing pins as you go 4. snip connecting threads with scissors to separate, press the seams open

5. pin two of your panel of two squares together with right sides facing, securing with a couple of pins on one side 6. repeat with all 12 panels of two until you have 6 panels of 4 squares, press as you go

7. repeat by sewing your panels of 4 squares together to make 3 panels of 8 squares, then continue to sew the quilt top together until all 24 squares are sewn together (the finished quilt top will be 4 squares wide, 6 squares long)

8. press seams open 9. add one border strip of fabric measuring 4.5" x 44" to both ends

Sewing the Quilt Top to the Chevron Laminate : :

10. with right sides facing, pin the finished quilt top to the piece of laminate fabric staying close to the outer edges. Sew the top piece to the back with a 1/2-inch seam allowance around all four sides, removing pins as you go, and be sure to leave a 10-inch gap at the bottom edge. Back stitch at the beginning and end of this seam. This opening is for turning out the quilt

11. snip off the corners and turn the blanket right sides out making sure to poke the corners out. 12. Press the quilt well on the patchwork side to smooth out wrinkles and pin along all four edges, pinning the opening closed. Top stitch around the entire blanket a 1/4" from the outer edge, back stitching at the beginning and end of the seam

* NOTE * When you top stitch, have the laminate side facing up, to avoid sticking.

This finished quilt will measure 42" x 72", of course you can make it larger!

Hand Tying the Quilt : :

13. Use a length of twine or floss measuring 4", thread through a sharp needle (there is no need to knot the end). At each place on the quilt top where fabric are sewn together, push the needle through the quilt top, making sure it goes through both the quilt top and bottom laminate layer of the quilt, bring back up through the top leaving a little stitch. Tie each stitch tightly with a square knot (a square knot is a simple double knot), trim threads to be about an inch in length. Repeat throughout the quilt.

Voila! Your Patchwork & Laminate Picnic Quilt is finished!!

Now you're ready for those fun Summer picnics and trips to the beach!

Thank you so much for stopping by today, I hope you enjoy this tutorial! If you do give this project a go, please be sure to share on my Facebook page or in my Maureen Cracknell Handmade Flickr group!   
♥, Maureen